Travel chaos expected tomorrow as Heathrow Airport strikes start – here’s how Easter break will be affected
FAMILIES heading abroad during the Easter holidays are being warned of travel chaos due to strike action.
More than 1,400 security staff at Heathrow Airport will be walking out tomorrow in a dispute over pay.
The proposed action will affect holidaymakers travelling from Heathrow Airport between March 31 to April 9 (Easter Sunday).
The call to strike follows the rejection of a 10 per cent pay rise and claims some staff earn as little as £24k.
Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary, said: “Workers can’t be expected to accept real-term pay cuts as shareholders and bosses get richer and richer.
“If the strike is to be averted, there needs to be more real money put on the table to make a decent pay rise.”
Staff involved in the walkout include guards who are employed at Terminal Five, used by British Airways, and those checking cargo entering the airport as well as firefighters and engineers.
British Airways has had to “make a small number of adjustments to our schedule” as a result of the walkouts.
While long-haul services have not been impacted, around 300 flights will be affected including 16 short-haul flights daily.
The airline will be contacting customers who are affected by the strike action and passengers will either be rebooked onto another flight or offered a full refund.
As well as British Airways passengers, the walkout is expected to cause disruption to other holidaymakers traveling from Heathrow.
Contingency plans to keep the airport open and operational are in place.
A Heathrow spokesperson said: “We will not let these unnecessary strikes impact the hard-earned holidays of our passengers.
“Our contingency plans will keep the airport operating as normal throughout.
“We are deploying 1,000 additional colleagues, and the entire management team, who will be in the terminals assisting passengers over the busy Easter getaway.”
While the airport warned that it may take longer to get through security, they’ve assured passengers that queues will be “well managed and kept flowing”.
Holidaymakers who are travelling through Heathrow airport have been asked to check in their hand luggage for free in a bid to cut security queues.